Pearl (6×9 self-erecting)
}} The name Pearl (パール) was given by Konishi Honten and Konishiroku Honten (the later Konica) to many models of rollfilm folders."Pearl" is written in roman script on most or all of these models. In Japanese, the line was and is called Pāru (i.e. the English word "Pearl" within Japanese phonology): the Japanese word for "pearl" is shinju (真珠), but this does not seem ever to have been applied to the camera. None of the cameras dealt with in this article was exported, and it is unlikely that any was either labeled or advertised with any roman script other than "Pearl". Thus the choice of names within this article is sometimes difficult. This article deals with the 6×9 self-erecting folders. See also the Pearl (for plates and rollfilm), Pearl No.2 and Pearl (4.5×6); and, for 127 film, the Baby Pearl and Pearlette. The Year-Eight Pearl, "spring camera" The Year-Eight Pearl (8年型パール, April 1933) "Year-Eight Pearl" is an arbitrary translation of hachinen-gata Pāru (8年型パール) named after year 8 of Shōwa, i.e. 1933. is a folder with a self-erecting lens: the bellows open and the lens board springs forward when the front is opened. It thus appears to be a copy of the Zeiss Ikonta of 1929; however, focusing moves the entire lens assembly, mounted on a helical, and not merely the frontmost element. There is a folding frame finder on the body and a brilliant finder on the shutter housing. The lens is an f/6.3 or f/4.5 10.5 cm Zion triplet (swiftly replaced by or renamed as Optor), designed by Konishiroku and manufactured by Asahi Kōgaku. There was a choice between two Konishiroku shutters, both with two blades and having a dial under the brilliant finder: an Apus shutter (copy of the German Vario; T, B, 25, 50, 100) or a ゼウス shutter (copy of the German Ibsor; T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125),Hagiya, "Kokusan-hatsu no supuringu kamera," p.40; Japanese Historical Camera, p.18; Konika-Minoruta-ten, p.6; Tanaka, p.58. but the camera has also been observed with a Durax shutter (T, B, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 125). Durax shutter: Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten, p.17. The Year-Eight Pearl was the first Japanese folding camera whose lens would spring to the ready when the body was opened. This innovation very quickly became as ubiquitous among Japanese as among other folding cameras, to the point where "spring camera" (supuringu kamera) became the standard Japanese term for a folding camera. Japanese accounts of domestically produced "spring cameras" of course start with the Year-Eight Pearl, which thus has rather more historical significance within Japan than someone not speaking Japanese might guess. The Year-Eleven Pearl and further innovations In November 1936 was announced an additional option: a Pearl with an f/4.5 11.5 cm Hexar lens, the Year-Eleven Pearl (11年型パール). "Year-Eleven Pearl" is a translation of jūichi-nen-gata Pāru (11年型パール) named after year 11 of Shōwa, i.e. 1936. This camera would come in several variations, which together can be differentiated from the Year-Eight Pearl in having a single slider on the back to cover both red windows. It has a two-part folding finder on the top of the body: some examples have two glassless frames; others have glass in a large rectangular frame at the front and a smaller circle behind. The Hexar lens, a Tessar-based design by Konishiroku with four elements in three groups, had earlier appeared on the Tropical Lily. The 11.5cm focal length was later supplemented by 10.5cm and 12cm. On the model with the 12cm lens, the folding frame finder is at the far left (as seen by the photographer), above the hinge, thereby making space for a separate, horizontal rangefinder, attached via an accessory shoe. For each focal length, a metal plate showing depth of field is attached to the back. The "Sakura" brand rangefinder supplied is a device of high quality, with a baselength of 60mm (and calibrated in metres). It is black and inscribed with a stylized cherry blossom (sakura) leaf in the centre of which is a stylized character 六: the roku (literally "six") of both Konishiroku and Rokuoh-sha. As well as being part of a set with the Year-Eleven Pearl, the rangefinder (in both metre and foot versions) was sold separately, for ¥12. It came with a free accessory shoe, thus encouraging the owner of another camera to have its standard viewfinder offset and the accessory finder attached. Hagiya, pp.42–3. Tanaka (p.58) claims that early examples had Optor lenses, and the choice of an Apus or a Durax shutter. Perhaps this is true, perhaps it is a confusion with conversions of earlier cameras. The High-Grade Pearl (高級パール) "High-Grade Pearl" is a translation of Kōkyū Pāru (高級パール). came out in November of 1937. It has a folding albada finder on the top, sometimes central, sometimes offset for an accessory shoe and rangefinder. There is a variety of lens/shutter combinations, each f/4.5 10.5cm, with a shutter in the rim: earlier, a Hexar lens with either Compur Rapid (B, 1–400) or Durax shutter; later a f/4.5 Simlar lens (from Tōkyō Kōgaku) and Seiko Leo shutter (B, 1–250). Tanaka, pp.58–9; Hagiya, pp.42–3. Demise of the big Pearl The Pearl does not seem to have been developed further. Stocks of parts were still assembled into whole cameras after the war, when its lack of a body shutter release and its consumption of film would have made it seem seem old-fashioned and extravagant. Its 1946 retail price was fixed at ¥2320, less than a Semi Pearl B (¥3050) but as much as an Olympus Six.Japanese Historical Camera, p.60. From 1949, Konishiroku would skip the qualifier "Semi" and would use the name "Pearl" for 4.5×6 folders. Notes Sources and further reading * Item 167 (the Year-Eleven Pearl). * Hagiya Takeshi (萩谷剛). "Kokusan-hatsu no supuringu kamera de Hekisā renzu ga sōchaku sareta '11-nen-gata Pāru'" (国産初のスプリングカメラでヘキサーレンズが装着された「11年型パール」, The Year-Eleven Pearl, first Japanese spring camera, equipped with a Hexar lens). Pp.40–43. * Inoue Yasuo (井上康夫). "Koten meigyoku o sagasō: Hachinen-gata Pāru, Oputā 10.5cm f/4.5" (古典名玉を探そう: 8年型パール・オプター10.5cmF4.5, Let's hunt out famous old lenses: The Year-Eight Pearl and Optor 10.5cm f/4.5). , March 2005. * Pp.15 and 18. * Konika-Minoruta-ten (コニカミノルタ展, Konica Minolta exhibition). Exhibition catalogue. Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 2005. * * Omoide no supuringu-kamera-ten (思い出のスプリングカメラ展, Exhibition of beloved self-erecting cameras). Tokyo: JCII Camera Museum, 1992. (Exhibition catalogue, no ISBN number.) P.17. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Konica history 5. Shōwa 8-nen – 20-nen." (Konica history 5. 昭和8年–20年. From Shōwa year 8 (1933) to Shōwa year 20 (1945).) Pp.40–4. * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). "Nihon no supuringu kamera: Konishiroku" (日本のスプリングカメラ Konishiroku, The spring cameras of Japan: Konishiroku). Pp.58–61. * Yamawaki Kunio (山脇邦男). "Senzen kokusan taishū kamera no genten: Pearl, Semi Pearl" (戦前国産大衆カメラの原点・パール・セミパール, The Pearl and Semi Pearl, origin of the prewar Japanese popular cameras). Pp.108–10. Links In English: * Year-Eight Pearl, lot no.721 of the auction no.11 (26 May 2007) by Westlicht Photographica Auction In Japanese: * Pages of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website: ** Pearl cameras ** Year-Eight Pearl in the camera list ** Sakura rangefinder documentation and picture ** Some early lenses and the Konishiroku cameras to which they were fitted ** Cameras of the thirties, and other Konishiroku information * Year-Eight Pearl in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology Category: Japanese 6x9 viewfinder folding Category: Konica Category: P Category: 1906-1910